Dr. Susan West has been promoted to the position of Associate Vice President for Presidential Affairs at Belmont University. In this role Dr. West will continue to execute presidential initiatives and will also provide oversight for Curb Event Center operations, the Athletics Department, and Auxiliary Services. Dr. West recently received a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Peabody College, Vanderbilt University’s college of education and human development.
Dr. Susan West Promoted to Associate VP
Cusic Featured on CMT July 4th
Country Music Television (CMT) will present a special on the “Greatest Patriotic Songs” in country music history over the July 4th holiday and Don Cusic, professor of Music Business at Belmont University, is a special commentator on this show. The show will premier on Saturday evening, July 2, at 9 p.m. CDT. Featured artists on the show include Aaron Tippin, Bill Anderson, Darryl Worley, Chely Wright and others. The show will be repeated on Monday, July 4th at 11:30 a.m. CDT. Precedding the July 4th show will be a special feature on the song “Independence Day” by Martina McBride; Cusic is also a special commentator on the show.
Cornwall Chairs Global Conference on Entrepreneurship
Dr Jeff Cornwall, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University, is chairing the 50th Annual Meeting of the International Council for Small Business all this week in Washington DC, where more than 600 attendees from around the world are exchanging ideas about educating entrepreneurs and about public policy issues related to entrepreneurship.
Belmont Wins A-Sun Academic Trophy For Fourth Year in a Row
Belmont University has won the Atlantic Sun Conference’s All-Academic Trophy for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year, becoming the only school in league history to win the award four times. The award, announced today, is given annually to the conference school with the greatest percentage of student-athletes earning a GPA of 3.0 or higher at the end of the academic year.
“We are thrilled to capture this trophy for the fourth consecutive year,” said Mike Strickland, Director of Athletics. “Earning this honor is important to everyone on the Belmont campus and credit should be given to all of the hard work our academic staff, coaches, and especially our student-athletes have done over the past school year.”
Jacobs Honored at TACE Conference
At the annual conference of the Tennessee Association of Colleges and Employers (TACE), Belmont’s Patricia Jacobs in the Office of Career Services received the Lumsden-Sellers Outstanding Member Award for her exceptional service, outstanding leadership, loyalty and dedication to her profession and to TACE.
Belmont University Breaks Ground on Thrailkill Hall
Belmont University broke ground today on a new $17 million residence hall and parking garage that will provide living space for 322 students and increase on-campus parking by 400 spaces. The residence hall will be named Thrailkill Hall in honor of Belmont’s past chairman Larry Thrailkill and his wife, Jan. Thrailkill has served on the university’s Board of Trustees since 1980 and lead the board as chairman during a period of rapid growth for the university.
International Country Music Conference Returns to Belmont
The 22nd annual International Country Music Conference, which attracts the top scholars in country music from all over the world, will be held May 26-28 at Belmont University. Conference events will include the awarding of the annual Belmont Book Award, given to the best book on country music in the past year, as well as a special panel discussion to celebrate and analyze the 40th anniversary of the publication of the landmark “Hillbilly Issue” of the Journal of American Folklore. That issue included several articles by different authors that helped legitimize country music scholarship and influence scholars working in the field today. Archie Green, who wrote one of those articles, will be a part of the panel discussion.
Sturgis Interviewed on NPR
Dr. Amy Sturgis, professor of liberal studies at Belmont University, was recently interviewed on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation radio show. Sturgis, who teaches a course on The Lord of the Rings, spoke with NPR about the recent Star Wars phenomenon sweeping the nation.
To listen to the interview, click here.
Brown Elected to National Position
Dr. Katherine Yvonne Brown, occupational therapy professor, was elected to the position of National Secretary for the National Black Occupational Therapy Caucus at the 2005 American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Convention.
On May 21, Brown spoke at Lipscomb University at a meeting of the CEO Academy Program.
Entrepreneurship Lands Major Grant for Campus-Wide Initiative
Belmont University’s Center for Entrepreneurship has landed a $150,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation to fund its Entrepreneurship Across Belmont initiative designed to educate students who aren’t majoring in business to prepare them to operate successful businesses in their chosen career field.
